hello, after your weight loss, did your arms tone back up or did you have alot of lose skin there? i know that alot has to do with how big you were to begin with and how long you were overweight but i just want to know everyones experience so i can sort of average it out. i dislike my arms so much and have lose skin there already but im still on my way so im kind of wondering if with time they will be able to tone up with working out maybe or if i will have to resort to plastic surgery. by the way im 22 years old and have been this big for about 4 years. thanks.

Right now I'm heavier than I want to be, but last time I lost weight I went from about 154 to 134. I gained that weight slowly over the space of a year and a half, and lost it again at 18. I did a lot of dance exercise that involved moving my arms, and by toning them up I did lose a lot of weight on them (and all over).

You can't really just lose weight from one place, it comes from all over, but you can help it along by doing lots of reps with light weights or do what I did and find a form of dance that tones your arms well. It depends what exercise you enjoy most.

As for loose skin, I'm not sure to be honest. I was only 18 last time I hit my goal, so I guess it had a lot of elasticity, and it wasn't a dramatic loss. However, you're only 22 so your body has a lot more chance of recovering than someone who is older. The only thing you need to watch out for is losing weight too fast - that's when loose skin can occur from what I believe.

Just take it slowly and steadily and make sure you exercise in any way you can to keep everything, not just your arms, toned and flexible There's probably creams and lotions that are available to help the elasticity of the skin as well. But I'm no expert so I'll leave it to other people to reply.

Good luck anyway, I'm sure you'll be fine in the end no matter what!

No one can say for sure, there is a huge genetic component to skin elasticity. Some lose 200 lbs and look great, some have saggy skin with only a 30-40 lb loss.

I say do the diet, do the weights and when you have done all you can do, decide if you need a little "intervention" It is too far in the future to worry about now! (except to lose weight in a healthy manner as rapid and or repeated weight loss MAY make loose skin worse)

I would like to add, that there is a big difference in "toning up", or strengthening the muscles in the arms or in any other body part-and having or not having loose skin.

Skin and muscle are two completely different things-and your arms can be flabby looking for one of those reasons alone, or both of them.

If your arms are flabby because of atrophied muscle-then strength training will help them look firmer and shapely. However, if you lose 50, or 100 pounds, or more-and you tended to carry a lot of fat in your upper arms, and after the fat is gone, and you are left with extra skin-no, exercise won't make that skin shrink back up.

Genetics, how much weight you gained/lost, age, body type, and other factors determine how much, if any, extra skin you will end up with.

I think that the best thing to do, is:

#1-strength train. You want the muscles in your body to be strong, and shapely, no matter what. If the flabby look is due to lack of muscle-then this will improve them, as well as provide a better body overall, and better health.

#2-Wait until you are at your fittest before contemplating plastic surgery. You don't know what things will look like until you are at goal, and you are at your fittest through exercise.

#3-Think about the scarring of having plastic surgery done. A tummy tuck, for instance-the scar can run all along your lower abdomen-even all around to the back depending on how big of a tuck you have. However, it IS covered by your underwear/jeans/swimsuits-and in public it isn't doesn't leave noticeable scars to the general public-only you, your doctor, and your significant other ever see it.
Getting skin removed from your arms though, DOES leave visible scarring, sometimes all the way down to the elbow area. If you want to have the surgery to wear tank tops, etc.-then you have to realize that there will be visible scarring, and will you feel just as self conscious with a scar as you would a little extra skin there? It is something to contemplate.

Also, while skin elasticity varies based on our genetic disposition, there are a couple of things you can do to keep your tissues elatic and help them regenerate and tighten up a bit more:
1. exercise
2. omega 3 and 6 fatty acids
3. dry skin brushing at least 3x weekly
4. eating enough protein

If you implement those things now and keep them in as you are losing weight there is a good chance you will be ok with the results - maybe not super happy depending on the amount of weight you have to lose and your natural skin elasticity but ok enough not to need plastic surgery

I have a hard problem with MY ARMS. It's ALWAYS been my "icky spot". Even when I'm thin & eating right & exercising... my arms have always been difficult to tone. I gain muscle easily, & bulk up easily, but those stupid batwings.... Now, more than ever, because of my 2 herniated discs in my upper back & my rotator cuff re-problem ... I cannot exercise my upper body AT ALL. So the "bat wings" are just hanging there, looking more & more disgusting day by day.

When I reach my goal weight (again) and finally figure out how to STAY THERE (once I've kept the weight off for at least one year) I intend to have lipo done on my arms. I don't disdain plastic surgery. It's available for a reason. I have no shame when it comes to my bat wings.

So when you said I totally understand. But please don't look at it as able to tone up OR resort to plastic surgery... why not do both? After all, there's only so much toning you can do to certain "spots" - & that's where PS comes in. So my suggestion is to work out, diet, lose all the weight you can, & if you still aren't happy, see a plastic surgeon. There's no reason to go round hating your body for things you can't do anything about.

JM2C.

I do arm exercises a few times a week and even though I have loose skin and still quite a bit of fat on them, they are looking so much better. You can see the muscle underneath the flab. I couldn't imagine not trying to workout my muscles to improve my overall shape while I'm losing weight.

I was down to 110 at one point, after being well over 200, and my arms were pretty flabby. I exercised a lot, and ended up with very lithe arms up until a certain point, but the upper-arm flab was still there. I personally didn't mind it, as I usually wear longer sleeves or fishnet underneath my shirt, which do an excellent job of covering it up.

So, I'm going to have to agree with everyone else here. Exercise, tone up, do all that, and if you're at your goal and still not satisfied, then you can think about plastic surgery.

I did think about plastic surgery but it leaves scars so you still won't want to show your arms. I lost over 200 pounds, I exercise but even as you age you get some saggin in your arms. Mostly I consider it my badge of honor and wear elbow length or long sleeves.

The GOOD THING about plastic surgery is that it gets better & better all the time. New procedures, quicker recoveries, less scarring, etc.

I saw a woman on Oprah (this was a year or so ago) who had the upper arm surgery where they did lipo AND removed extra skin (she'd lost something like 150 pounds, I think....if I recall correctly....) anyway, she did have some scarring, but according to her, it wasn't nearly as bad as the "batwings" flapping around! (in fact, I think that's where I got the "batwings" definition.... LOL....)

I'm just sayin'.

Oh baby have there been threads on this subject!!!

Here are three from the past 30 days:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108957

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108267

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107663

Oh, and in response to your question--- the short answer: No, so I got an armplasty and don't regret it.

Hi Everyone!

I'm still working hard at getting these upper arms in shape! I have always done a lot of heavy lifting (moving furniture, carrying my husband's band equipment, laying mulch, etc., so I DO have a lot of muscle in my arms. I've always been a very strong gal! I use my dumbbells (3s, 5s, 8s, and 10s) in a number of exercises every other day and use my 2s in my Step and Tone step routine as well.

I'm working on losing the fat with cardio which I do every morning. My legs and rear and even hips have gone down A LOT. Even my waist is finally getting smaller.

It's these UPPER ARMS that just are SO S-L-O-W in changing that are making me CRAZY!!!!! Not only do I have the BATWINGS, I also have this terribly unsightly blob of saggy skin near my elbow bone that actually makes my arm look DEFORMED when you look at my arms from the side or the back! YIKES!!! I was drying off from the shower today and noticed how awful that blobby part actually looked!

I KNOW that I have more fat to lose from my whole body, and I have more on my upper arms than just extra skin -there's more fat to melt away there! At this rate, though, by the time I lose the weight I want to lose, my upper arms will be dripping down my forearm!!!!! At this point I think that this blobbiness near my elbows is even WORSE than my batwings!!!

Anyone else have that flab/skin/blob near the elbow?

Since losing the 50 lbs, I've been very fortunate not to have excessive skin or flabby arms. I have noticed a few wrinkles and a little looseness when I get in certain positions during my floor exercises. Some of it might be the begining signs of age.

The push ups and weights I've been doing for the last two months have done a lot to sculpt my arms.

My biggest loose skin area is my chin & neck. I don't think there's anything I can do about it besides surgery and at this point in my life, it's not a choice I would make.

For those of you who do have to have the surgeries, I wish you a safe and speedy recovery and that you get the body you are dreaming of.

Yes!!! Ergh!!! My surgeon recommended mesotherapy because he said that he had never heard of a surgeon operating on that part of the arm....... because believe me, I asked! It is sooo bothersome. Pooh.

I toned my arms up, as I lost weight. I still have a tiny bit of slightly bagging looking skin, but when I flex, it goes bye bye. It's barely enough to be an issue. Now my tummy on the other hand. Lower abdominal, it's shot. Between 12 years of obesity and pregnancy, I've done all I can do. It looks 150% better than it did, but I will never get that elasticity back. I will eventually get a tummy tuck. After my hubby gets his snip snip... (sorry for the TMI)